I have been very outspoken on the problems that have brought down the Northwestern University football program. Head Coach Pat Fitzgerald has been the most successful coach in school history because he recruits very well, has had a tremendous defensive coordinator and a barely alive offense and an ability to keep games close and win them. Honestly, the Cats have won more than lost despite Fitz’s continuing difficulty in making during game decisions and clock management.
One thing that has been a boon and a bust to the program has been Fitzgerald’s dependence on his coordinators. On the one hand, Fitzgerald’s best move of his career was hiring Mike Hankwitz when he was suddenly let go by Wisconsin and became one of the best defensive coordinators in the country. Hankwitz however, retired two seasons ago and Jim O’Neal, a buddy of Fitzgerald’s in their early coaching careers was hired. O’Neil failed in every coaching position he held prior to coming to Evanston, and the NU defense fell from one of the best n the country, usually among the top 30 units in the country to 63rd. The offense, which has been woeful for years under OC Mick McCall, was given to Mike Bajakian, whose unit was 107th in the country in Total Offense, and even then an improvement over the 112-118 ranked offenses under McCall. The team’s record proved out the bad individual rankings – 1-11.
Fitzgerald’s Achilles’ heel is hubris. With the units struggling, Fitz would show unending loyalty to the coordinators. It was only after years of poor offensive play that McCall was pushed out. Hankwitz deserved his tenure, but with his retirement, the head coach once again hired a buddy and then refused to publicly hold him accountable. However, Fitz may have learned a lesson (or the athletic directors no longer sat on the sidelines letting Fitzgerald do whatever he wanted), O’Neil was relieved after this season (no replacement has been named to my knowledge); Bajakian remains.
Why am I bringing all of this up? The Athletic ran a story ranking all 131 FBS football programs with the season completed. Of course, the playoff participants were 1-4: Georgia, TCU, Michigan and Ohio State. The rest of the teams were ranked and, of course, I looked for the Wildcats. They were ranked, deservedly, 122 out of 131 teams. According to the Atlantic, the preseson ranking was 87th. With 42 bowl games – 84 teams, Northwestern was expected to have been on the bubble, maybe sneaking into a bowl game.
NU reportedly has started, finally, to react to the College Football world of the 21st Century – coming up with money to address NIL possibilities to players. This should attract players in the Transfer Portal and perhaps keep the better players from using the portal to jump to other programs. Add the potential for a new football stadium in Evanston (assuming it can get past local opposition).
While hope always springs eternal, the 2023 season will be determined whether Fitzgerald can find a competent defensive coordinator and either a new offensive coordinator or a kick in the rear end to Bajakian. Most of all, Fitzgerald should be a little more introspective, maybe look to the coaches more than the lip service

The biggest story in sports today is the heart attack suffered on the football field by Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin. In the first quarter, after a relatively routine football play on Cincinnati wide receiver Tre Higgins, Hamlin got up off the ground and just collapsed. Medical staff were there almost immediately, had to perform CPR for several minutes right on the field, leaving the live audience and the home audience stunned as the ESPN talking heads tried to fill up the empty time (which they did fairly well, explaining without being sensationalistic).
As of now, Hamlin remains in serious condition at a hospital about 2 miles from Paycor Stadium. It appears that a hit to the chest may have disrupted the beating of the heart. Could it have been exacerbated by a genetic condition not found in normal medical tests, which in the NFL are quite comprehensive.
As I watched, I was reminded of October 24, 1971. The Bears were playing the Lions at Tiger Stadium. It was a grey day; the Lions had won 3 games in a row and were in hot pursuit of the Vikings in the division. The Bears and Lions have always been division rivals, although not with the passion as the rivalries with the Packers and Vikings. Late in the 4th quarter, with the Bears leading 28-23, the Lions were driving and Chuck Hughes came into the game as an injury replacement. Hughes caught a 32-yard pass from QB Greg Landry to the Bears 37. Three plays later, Landry tried to hit the great Lion tight end Charlie Sanders, which was broken up near the goal line. Hughes was a decoy on the play, and began running back to the huddle with 1:02 left. Suddenly, Hughes fell to the turf clutching his chest.
I think most Chicagoans will always remember pictures of Hall of Famer Dick Butkus standing over Hughes and waving for the officials to get Hughes help. (Bear great defensive lineman Ed O’Bradovich started yelling at Hughes to stop faking an injury to get the clock stopped, but OB saw Butkus’ reaction and realized it was real.) Team doctors, trainers and a cardiac physician who happened to be in the stadium that day all worked to try and save him. In this case, the game continued sine there was only 1 minute left. The Bears won the game, after which the teams were notified that Hughes had died.
I admit, as an 11-year-old kid, I thought that maybe Butkus had finally killed somebody. Alternatively sad about the death and slightly exhilarated and embarrassed to think that my childhood hero Butkus’ reputation was even more fearsome after the incident. (I was a kid – I am embarrassed about it now, but I have to be honest with you gentle reader.)
Many years later, while writing for The Sportswriters on TV and before the discovery of CTE, I wrote that the equipment was woefully inadequate for the game of football. Back then, I wrote that the game of football was not made to be played by 6’8” men with 1% body fat who could run a 4.45 40-yard dash. I said then that every play generated the equivalent force of a car accident, but young men were out there, willing to risk their bodies and healthy to play football, and hopefully make more money than they ever would have in a regular profession, or worse, life on the streets.
I first posted these sentiments in 1995 or so, and in the time since, football players have gotten even bigger and faster, While the NFL and the rest of football had to be sued to be drug out of the Ice Age to admit that football players suffer severe head trauma, and while more is being done, the equipment is still inadequate to protect the players’ brains. Which leads us to the other parts of the body, like the heart. Admittedly, the NFL has top doctors on duty in stadiums, and as I mentioned above, do a very thorough examinations of players entering the league and while playing. Without these doctors, we have to ask whether Damar Hamlin would have died like Chuck Hughes? Would today’s medicine have saved Hughes? There’s no way to tell, but I know that Hamlin would probably have died right there on the field if there weren’t serious medical staff on duty.
I think we all are praying and hoping for the 24-year-old Hamlin to survive. Reportedly, he stayed in college an extra year to remain closer to his 2-year-old brother. He started a charity for kids before he had made any money in the NFL (he was only a sixth-round draft-pick.) He is much too young, has too much to give the world aside from football. The NFL should make more all-inclusive the medical examinations given to all players. We have all heard of players who are discovered with potentially lethal conditions that makes participation in sports an unwarranted gamble.
Last night, I was watching my old friend and fellow-NU alum Kevin Blackistone on MSNBC and he made an excellent point. While we talk about the changes in the game and the equipment and medicine are discussed, what about us – the fans? Football is an unusually American game (Rick Telander reminded us that there are more gins than people in the country), and we have been conditioned to want to see the big hits, the tremendous violence. As I watch football live and on television, I am always looking for players to tackle without using their heads/helmets. Same for hockey; I’m concerned about soccer players heading balls. Now, we should add concern about hard hits to the chest.
I have already heard laughter and scorn over the new NFL Pro Bowl which will be flag football and tests of skill. I always thought the Pro Bowl was ludicrous, and was not planning to watch this new game. Silly, I thought but still better than risking injury in a meaningless game. The leagues, college conferences, high schools and yes, the fans are desperately holding on to a game that is too dangerous to continue in its current form. Will it require more deaths? How long will we be able to postpone the inevitable?

For the past couple of years, I did not post a Best of Films list, in great part because I felt that I hadn’t seen enough films due to not attending the Toronto International Film Festival. That changed in 2022 and I saw 14 films there, on top of the usual “regular” movies. Here is my list:
10 The Menu – for some reason, dark humor was very popular in film this year, and a very dark example is The Menu, written by Will Tracy (“Succession”) with Seth Reiss (“The Onion TV”) and directed by Mark Mylod (“Succession” and 6 episodes of “Game of Thrones”). A group of people go to a very exclusive restaurant; Nicholas Hoult (“X-Men” films) is a big foodie who desperately wants to eat and learn about the cooking. He brings a woman with him, not his girlfriend played by Anya Taylor-Joy (“The Queen’s Gambit”) who isn’t really a big foodie and is the only person not impressed with the restaurant. The rest of the diners are a group of elites, or eclectic people, generally unpleasant, but the kitchen staff are all ruled by an insane chef, played with incredible panache by Ralph Fiennes. In short ordre, staff and guests start getting involved in dangerous games and violence and death.
9 Spirited – I don’t ordinarily watch comedies, especially starring Will Farrell, and for most of my life I generally avoided movie musicals, but having now appeared in several musicals in community theater, I appreciate musicals much more. One of my cast members suggested that I watch this film on Apple+. I like Ryan Reynolds too, mostly in the Deadpool movies. This film is a version of A Christmas Carol with Farrell the ghost of Christmas Present and Reynolds is a miserly person considered irredeemable by the afterlife. Farrell thinks he can be redeemed. Add a lovely romance involving Octavia Spenser and some very catchy songs. If this film could touch an old cynic like myself, it definitely belongs on this list.
8 All Quiet on the Western Front – I saw this film at TIFF and I was very interested in the first German language production of the World War I best seller. This film is a Netflix film and has gotten generally mediocre reviews, and perhaps me seeing this film on a big screen made it more memorable and the fact that the war changed very little in territory, just piling up bodies. Maybe this is the first time the venue impacted a rating, but this is worth watching, I think it’s good on a small screen, but try and see it on a large screen.
7 Nope – Jordan Peele has become the master of horror, and has done an amazing job of bringing social commentary into his horror movies. Daniel Kaluuya once again gives an outstanding performance. He can be a hero, a villain, he can do it all and he brings an “every Black man” spirit to this role , and KeKe Palmer has turned into a star. While he tried to keep the story under wraps, I correctly guessed that this was a UFO story, but I was still scared.
6. Sidney – the world lost Sidney Poitier in January and by September, already a great documentary was put together by Reggie Hudlin supported by the money, clout and 8 hours of interview footage filmed by Oprah Winfrey. I had the honor of being able to attend the World Premiere at TIFF with a star-studded introduction and question and answer session with the Executive Producer Oprah and other guests hosted by Gayle King. Long-time readers know my revulsion with Ms. Winfrey going way back before she became a billionaire (and I have even less respect for Ms. King). However, the Q&A also featured four of Mr. Poitier’s daughters, and the fact that the wives got along and the daughters are sisters to each other, showed the basic decency of an icon. The documentary unflinchingly covered Poitier’s indiscretion during hie first marriage with Dianne Carroll, being an icon, falling out of favor with a more militant Black Power movement, becoming a director late in his career. This is another streaming film, on Apple +, worth watching.
5 Everything Everywhere All at Once – I caught on to this film late, seeing it on video, but this time-travel, sci-fi Asian action and mis-mosh is quite inventive, well written and acted featuring a great starring role by Michelle Yeoh, a change of type of role from Jamie Lee Curtis under tons of makeup and body prosthetics, and the great feel good story of the year with the return of Ke Huy Quan, known as a child actor in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, and The Goonies. This is a film that defies explanation a bit, but is a fine film (and Ms. Yeoh is primed for a potential Best Actress Oscar nomination and possibly winner).
4 Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – can you make a sequel when the dynamic star of the original film? Of course, Chadwick Boseman died of colon cancer and Marvel decided not to recast the Black Panther. Director Ryan Coogler made a film that was a testament to Mr. Boseman, and still had comics action. On top of that, the film showed more heart than most comic book films on top of providing a very Afro-centric story, cast, and crew.
3 Top Gun: Maverick – I was not a big fan of the 1986 original film and other than the Mission Impossible films, I’m not a big Tom Cruise fan, but this film was action-packed, had some heart fine performances by Jennifer Connelly, Miles Garrett, outstanding stunt flying work, and a star performance from Mr. Cruise. The aerodynamics of the movie, especially the end which could not have been possible in real life, but again, the story and a poignant cameo from the sick Val Kilmer.
2 The Batman – Yes, there have been many Batman movies and some have been great (The Dark Knight, Batman 1989) and some haven’t (The Dark Knight Rises, Batman vs. Superman, Original Justice League – although none of these films are bad). As always, there was controversy about the casting of the lead actor, and this time, there was a loud cry against Robert Pattinson, most know for being the brooding vampire in the Twilight films, but Pattinson has done some really good work in films like The Lighthouse and Tenet. On top of that, writer and director Matt Reeves made a different Batman film: first, Batman was on screen much more than Bruce Wayne; second, the movie focused on Batman as detective; and the great cast – Zoe Kravitz, Jeffrey Wright, John Turturro, and Colin Farrell were in a film right out of the great film Se7en – dark, wet, gloomy, oppressive. It was a little long and had one too many endings, but it was memorable.
1 The Banshees of Inisherin –I am a big fan of writer/director Martin McDonagh, especially his first feature, the hilarious In Bruges which starred Colin Farrell and Brendon Gleeson. Since then, McDonagh directed Seven Psychopaths (which I don’t think worked very well), and the great Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri which were Oscar winning platform for Francis McDormand (Best Actress) and Sam Rockwell (Best Supporting Actor). When I heard that Farrell, Gleeson and McDonagh were reteaming, I had to see it, and it was more dark comedy around a pair of friends, who one day, one of them told the other that he no longer wanted to have anything to do with the other man. Confused, Padraic (Farrell) kept trying to find why Colm (Gleeson) wanted nothing to do with him anymore. Colm upped the severity of how much he wanted no further contact with Padraic. However, we gain a picture of the many characters residing in the town. I thoroughly enjoyed this film.
Honorary Mention: I saw two films at TIFF that have not yet been released in the U.S. hat I suggest people try and find it when they are showing in 2023. The first is a documentary called Black Ice, about Black hockey players in the minors and NHL. Unlike other films, this focused on racism in Canada by fans, coaches, and other players. In part produced by LeBron James, it was very good and to be shown sometime in the future. The other film is called Chevalier, the story of Joseph Bologne, son of a Black servant and a French plantation owner, but who was one of the finest violinists and composers in France, right before the revolution. Directed by Stephen Williams, one of the directors of HBO’s fine Watchmen series along with Westworld and Walking Dead. The U.S. release date is April 7, 2023.
So, there’s my list for the year. Feel free to reach out with your thoughts and opinions.

I used to compile these lists every year, but I have gotten out of the habit during the pandemic, but there have been more releases this year than in the pandemic years, so I am compiling this list. As before, it is based on what I listened to most this year. Generally, my list has a lot of names on it that have been on previous lists, and these artists generally have broken little if any new ground, which may be what we needed coming out of the long period….
10 Todd Rundgren – Space Force – a new rock release from Todd Rundgren is always a treat, something that he has not released in awhile, but touring has brought renewed interest in The Wizard A True Star. This is a record of collaborations with many artists like The Roots, Rivers Cuomo, Sparks, Neil Finn, Rick Nielsen, Adrian Belew and Thomas Dolby among others. With all of the guests, the record has an unevenness about it. Some of the songs are quite good; others, not so much, but the good outweighs the bad.
9 Bruce Springsteen – Only The Strong Survive: long time readers know that the Boss being on this list is no surprise, but for him to be this low on the list s unusual. This record is filled with covers of great soul songs written and performed by other people. There’s no E-Street Band, no BS originals, Bruce plays no guitar. The band he assembled is very slick and clean and these songs need some grit in the playing. And Bruce really doesn’t have the voice for a few of these songs, years of screaming has hewn his voice – great for rock, not smooth for soul. I appreciate Springsteen’s commitment to these old songs, but his bandmate Little Steven Van Sant and his band the Disciples of Soul have more energy and authenticity than this.
8 Mike Campbell and the Dirty Knobs – External Combustion – we lost Tom Petty 5 years ago and it was a stunning loss. However, Heartbreakers’ guitarist Mike Campbell is still very much alive and this release definitely has the Petty vibe on it but with Campbell’s vocals and a personality of its own. This is a very solid release.
7 The Figgs – Chemical Shake: I admit that I am truly honored to be friends with Graham Parker, He is a great artist and friend, and one of the side benefits has been meeting members of The Figgs, who have backed up GP in the past. I have purchased several of their records and this year, they released a wonderfully tuneful rocking record called Chemical Shake From the first song – Hot Vice, it reaches out and entertains. Worthwhile to pick up and try out their back catalog also.
6 Pixies – Doggerel: I caught up with the Pixies long after they had broken up, mostly through the solo discs by Black Francis/Frank Black. It was then that I reached back into the original Pixie catalog. Since the bank reformed, the key thing is the writing of Black, which remains quirky, tuneful and rocking. This record is not a dramatic departure, but it is another great record from a great band.
5 Wilco – Cruel Country: a year with a Wilco album and it is almost guaranteed to appear on my Top of the Year list. I admit that I am not a fan of country music in general but R.E.M. and Wilco infuse enough rock to not sound like a traditional country record. It is only available via streaming as of now, but physically this record will be available in the new year. Worth listening to, no matter how you do it.
4 Arcade Fire – We: another of my favorite bands out with its first new music in awhile. An overall subdued disc compared with earlier music, maybe because of reported infidelity by band leader Wil Butler against his wife Regine Chassagne who had a baby over the pandemic. Still the songs are very poppy, just slower and more introspective.
3 Interpol – The Other Side of Make-Believe: the first record in four years is back to basics for this New York band. I have always enjoyed their atmospheric sound.
2 Florence + the Machine – Dance Fever: this is another tuneful set from Florence Welsh and her mates. Ms. Welsh as one might expect, came up with inward, coming up with songs questioning her relationship to performing and her public image. Poignant lyrics.
1 Elvis Costello and the Imposters – The Boy Named If: despite being one of my favorites, it says a lot that a record that was released in January, 2022 and it still gets played regularly by me. Following two terrific albums in the 21st Century: Look Now and Hey, Clockface, this record is even more of synthesis of all of the best aspects of Costello’s whole career without sounding old or derivative. It took the number 1 slot on my list for the year and dared every other release to knock it off the mountain. No one did.
So, there’s my rundown of my favorite records of the year. I will list the best films of the year in a future post.

I have been asking the same question for several months: why is Chicago Rock Radio so bad? For many years, I have complained about WXRT, which is supposed to be the best of the rock stations, but has never been as good as people remember and now is boring, irrelevant, and a bit ageist. My rants were solely about WXRT because the other stations were irrelevant: the old WLUP was hard core 70s and 80s rock; Q101 is alternative only; WDRV is Loop lite – oldies hard rock; and the latest WCHI, the I Heart Radio station is just generic a little of this and a little of that. The stations all play the same songs on an alternating scheme. WXRT was supposed to be different, and I have called them on their propaganda that they play more songs than the others. They play more artists than the other stations, but only the biggest 2-3 hits by those artists, and if those artists who the station built their reputations on are still recording, good luck getting any of those new songs played. Meanwhile, mediocre mid-tempo singer-songwriters are given high profile air time instead of the older acts. The ageism comes in with all of the mid-tempo songs being played with not many fast tempo songs getting on the air, apparently in fear of giving too much adrenaline to the old geysers who make up the station’s listenership.
What has changed? Why am I bringing this up? It used to be that each station “stayed in its own lane,” but now with fractured listenership, the playlists have merged making Chicago radio even more boring, Cases in point – I have heard “Black Hole Sun” by Soundgarden on WXRT, then a few minutes later on Q101. “Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Nirvana never got played this much when the song was a hit, but it’s played on all four stations; it doesn’t take long before you can hear it on any station. I also feel that the programming is basically lazy – all you have to do to proclaim yourself a rock station is to play The Who, or the same songs by Led Zeppelin. Even more recent songs (relatively 40 years compared with 30 years) that I have always loved like “Cult of Personality” by Living Colour gets played many times a day on WCHI. I know that Chicago band the Smashing Pumpkins are a Chicago band and played concerts in town recently, but the same 3-4 songs are on high play (“Disarm,” “1979,” “Tonight, Tonight,” “Bullet with Butterfly Wings”) on all of the stations. Here’s an idea – how ‘bout playing deeper cuts from the band? Deeper cuts from other bands? Young bands that actually rock instead of the Vance Joy’s of the world?
On Facebook, letters, and comments, I have complained about WXRT’s playlist. Unfortunately, WXRT has never been as great as they are remembered. Jim DeRogadis is famously quoted that XRT is “never more than 15 minutes from a Talking Heads song.” Over the years, they have run bands into the ground like Tom Petty and the Pretenders. Yes, they broke many bands here especially New Wave and grunge, but that was 30 years ago, and I have felt that the station ignored Black rock music. In an attempt to not compete with the R&B stations, they refused to play Prince, and still refuse to play rock and roll by black bands like Funkadelic, and did not play but a few Motown songs or icons like Ray Charles, or Little Richard, or Chuck Berry. Comments from me have gotten mean pushback from people at the station if not ignored completely and protective comments from listeners who have drunk deeply from the Kool Aid. WXRT’s tagline is “The Station for Music Lovers.” I believe they should add “who only have 100 albums.”
My question is: why is rock radio in Chicago so boring? There is a long history of playing the hits. AM Radio stations played top hits every 88 minutes. While the age of AM Radio is long gone, the strategy of playing a small number of songs so many times per day has not ended. Now, Heart and Aerosmith are played on WXRT; Pearl Jam and Nirvana on WDRV; Soundgarden and Pearl Jam on Q101; and all of the above on WCHI. I mention that I have no problem with the osmosis that brings the playlists closer to each other, but all of the stations are playing the exact same songs often within minutes of one another. (The only shows that play songs that are off the beaten path are WXRT’s Saturday Morning Flashback and Q101’s History of Alternative on Sunday morning.)
Terrestrial radio continues to battle Sirius radio, streaming, vinyl records, a resurgent CD market and in my case, my iPod. I believe that the average Chicago rock fan doesn’t know any better. Ground breaking stations in NYC, California, even Cleveland and New Orleans leave the Chicago stations in the dust. Decades of mediocre radio have miseducated the public and dulled their interest in interesting and diverse playlist. At least WXRT should be the most diverse station in the market. WXRT DJ Lin Brehmer says that the station has a library of 22,000 songs (my iPod has over 32,000, just as an example), but even with that, that should include all of Elvis Costello’s whole rock catalog for example; the most recent Graham Parker albums should be around somewhere; you tell me that the only Joe Jackson songs WXRT can play are “Is She Really Going Out With Him,” and “Stepping Out”? Supposedly, WXRT has a rule that a song cannot be played more than twice per day. How about playing the song once per day? How about not repeating a song for days? How about not playing the same songs for a whole week? How about surprising the listeners with one deep song per hour?
Still, why keep churning the same old crap? Because they make the same money regardless? Because no one will complain, and those that want to will go to Sirius or streaming? Because people are lemmings when it comes to radio (among other things)? As such do we get what we deserve?

You may have guessed that I have had/shared season tickets for the Chicago Blackhawks for over 14 years, during which time, the team won three Stanley Cups. Those were glorious days, and like everything good, has come to an end. In the seven years since the 2015 Championship, the Hawks have missed the playoffs four times and lost in the first round the three times they did make the playoffs. GM Kyle Davidson has said that with the support of the Wirtzes who own the team, the team is doing a tank this season in an effort to get the top pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, the best of which is reportedly Connor Bedard.
At the start of the season, the team came out and played .500 hockey showing scrappiness, more hits that the Hawks have been known for. After the strong start, the losing began in earnest which the team currently posting a 1-8-1 record in their last 10 games. It’s been pretty horrible.
Last night, the Hawks were at home against the Washington Capitals, just out of the playoffs at this early point in the season with 34 points, but only one behind the Rangers for what would be the final playoff spot if the season ended today. What would be interesting about a mediocre 15-12-4 team? The fact that Alex Ovechkin was three goals from 800 goals, a milestone only known by Wayne Gretzky and Mr. Hockey, the late Gordie Howe. This is historic, something that can be appreciated by even the most novice hockey or sports fan. This was perfect for ESPN which has the Tuesday night game (and on the main network, not ESPN2 or U or News or whatever).
Television contracts between leagues and networks often have the option to change a scheduled game for another game that is more important to the standings or if something special could or will happen. The NFL does it fairly often, rescheduling a night game for the afternoon and taking another game with more gravitas to the evening. In this case, ESPN was supposed to show the Flyers/Avalanche game, in part because the Mountain time zone game would start after the “Around The Horn 20th Anniversary” Special. But hat is just another game on the 1,312 regular season schedule. However, Ovechkin was closing rapidly in on goal 800 and then he would be only one goal away from tying Howe. Lo and behold, the Capitals are playing the woeful Blackhawks in Chicago on December 13th. It wouldn’t create much of a hassle for the live fans, the game would be pushed back 30 minutes; besides, the fans are only there to try and witness history. ESPN was going to show hockey at that time anyway.
Apparently, the Blackhawks decided to take the game off. Goalie Petr Mrozek has suffered groin injuries that have limited him to 12 games in 2020-2021 and 21 games in 2021-2022. He has played only 10 of the 30 games on the Blackhawks schedule with Arvid Soderblom playing more games that the man who was expected to be the number one netminder in Chicago. In came Mrozek last night, still suffering from nagging groin issues. Ovechkin scored 798 just 24 seconds into the game; so fast that ESPN was still broadcasting studio analyst Chris Chelios’ pregame analysis. Nine minutes later, Mrazek challenged a shot that bounced straight to Ovie, who buried a tap-in in the 1st period, for 799 and a 2-0 lead.
The Hawks managed to cut the lead in half approximately 1 minute before the end of the period when Tyler Johnson found himself alone in the slot and the Caps goalie flat on the ice. The teams played nearly 5 minutes into the second period when former Blackhawk defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk score to make it 3-1. Jonathan Toews cut the lead back to 1 goal on the power play at 11:38. The Hawks defense was nowhere to be found at 17:12 of the period leading to an odd-man rush. Mrozek made one hell of a poke check to stop the initial shot, but Nick Doyd buried the rebound with nothing the goalie could do.
I’m sure the higher-ups in Bristol, CT. were hoping to get Ovechkin’s 800th, because, even though a two goal lead is “the weakest lead in the game” (not to mention the Ovechkin voodoo dols and pins at work in the TNT headquarters). Six minutes into the final period, the Hawks suffered another of their frequent defensive lapses for an odd-man rush. Once again, Mrozek made the first stop, but the rebound foud its way to Ovechkin for number 800 and a 5-2 Capitals lead.
Nothing more to see here – the Caps got two more goals and the Hawks’ Max Domi tallied one for a 7-3 final. Washington comes home to play Dallas on Thursday, but neither the broadcast ESPN or TNT have that game. I’m not saying that it would be better for everyone if Ovie got 800 last night, but it was for everyone except TNT. Ovechkin can think about tying and passing Howe on the all-time goals list and some 90 behind Gretzky; the Capitals can concentrate a little more on their games sine they are in the playoff hunt; the lie fans, even staunch Blackhawk fans, can say they saw history; ESPN gets the recognition of covering the goal live. Blackhawk ownership gets a slightly higher attendance for the Capitals and Ovechkin. The only losers are the Blackhawk players – hung out to dry by the league and ESPN with everyone except the players rooting for the record goal. Even Petr Mrozek who did not play a poor game will go down in history as the victim of number 800.
I’m not saying that there was a fix in, but the coincidence smells like 6-month-old toxic waste.

In the history of sport, most times, when government steps into the mechanism of sport, it blunders by heavy-handedly legislating something unawake of or unconcerned of the ramifications of their actions. Examples of the bad includes baseball being exempt from anti-trust law; to the positive is the case of Title IX which requires equality in amateur sport for all sexes. Then, there’s legal confusion, which occurred today in Washington D.C.
The attorney general for Washington filed a civil lawsuit against the Washington Commanders, team owner Daniel Snyder, the National Football League and commissioner Roger Goodell for allegedly colluding to deceive fans and district residents about the league’s investigation into the team’s toxic workplace culture and allegations of sexual assault in an effort to maintain a strong fan base and to increase profits. Attorney General Karl Racine (D-D.C.) said his office was suing “because you can’t lie to D.C. residents in order to protect your image and profits and get away with it. No matter who you are.” Racine then added, “Even if you’re the National Football League.” Racine said his office opened its investigation last fall and plans to subpoena Snyder as well as former employees, promising accountability and transparency as the case moves through the court system.
Racine said his office has jurisdiction to sue because the District of Columbia’s consumer-protection law is broad and covers any material misstatement that a business or merchant makes that could affect consumers in the district. He said the district is filing a civil complaint because his office does not have criminal jurisdiction on the matter. “For years, the team and its owner have caused very real and very serious harm and then lied about it to dodge accountability,” Racine said. “They did all of this to hide the truth, protect their images and let the profits continue to roll.” The suit includes the NFL and Commissioner Roger Goodell which the suit claims abetted the Commanders’ money making.
Huh? Suing because the Commanders are keeping facts away from people, so, if they are gaining revenue is a version of fraud? This is the strangest suit I’ve ever seen. Yes, Dan Snyder is a truly horrible human being – he established and maintained a team known more for sexual harassment and lies than wins in the NFL. And yes, they kept it under wraps to keep the stands from being empty on Sundays. To me, this is like former President Bill Clinton being impeached for having an affair and lying about it. Of course, he lied about it, but while one could say that he was taking time away from his job and responsibilities when he was actually having illicit sex, I think that’s a huge stretch, as is this.
The suit appears to be as a result of the secrecy around the team, the investigation on the sexual harassment, and the league’s response to the team, p and as a result, every time D.C. residents buy a Commanders’ ticket, or a t-shirt, or a program, it is fraud and D.C. should be suing? I think this is the sports version of frivolous litigation that clogs up the legal system. Should Houston season ticket holders get money back because the 2017 team cheated to a championship? Should Cub fans have sued for the 108 years without a championship because the owners were inept or just plain cheap and this was not announced on the front page of the newspaper?
In addition, while there are rules about the privacy of people, there are no rules that corporations must disclose everything to the fans base. An unusual change in the relationship between fans and teams is when teams announce that they are rebuilding. This never was stated outright by most teams because there was a fear that fans will stay home, no ticket revenue, no parking money, no food or souvenir revenue, so I guess this is a positive in transparency. However, you’re a fan – as the old saying goes “you pays your money, you takes your chances.” No one has a gun in your back to force you to give up your money. Perhaps you just want to go? Maybe you have nothing better to do? Maybe you believe in the truth that if every team that was supposed to win did, there’d be no need to play the game.
While anything that makes Dan Snyder, and Roger Goodell uncomfortable is a good thing, but I think this is a HUGE stretch by the District, and a waste of taxpayer money.